Means for and method of fastening cable ends.



A. ORR.

MEANS FOR AND METHOD OF FASTENING CABLE ENDS. APPLICATION FILEDFEB-12,19l6.

1314 709.. Patented Feb. 6,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

v A. ORR. MEANS FOR AND METHOD OF FASTENING CABLE ENDSl APPLICATIONFILED FEB- 17, I916.

214,709. Patented Feb. 6,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ARTHUR ORR, OF ST. CHARLES, ILLINOIS.

MEANS FOR AND METHOD OF FASTENING CABLE ENDS.

Specification of Ietters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

' Application filed February 17, 1916. Serial No. 78,941.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR 01in, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Charles, in the county of Kane and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for andMethods of Fastening Cable Ends, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to means for and method of fastening cable-ends.

It has for its salient object to provide satisfactorily for fasteningthe end ofa cable that is composed of strands of steel, or other metal,of high tensile strength, in a manner developing a very large percentageof the cable strength.

' Other objects of my invention are to effect such cable fastening oranchorage by a method that may be simply and inexpensively practised,and by construction that'is light, small, readily applied, and efficientand reliable in operation.

In utilizing cables under conditions where no strains calling for hightensile strength are to be encountered, a solder-filled socket fastenerfor the cable end has been em ployed. Such usual socket takes the formof a flaring or conoidal shell through the small end of which the cableis led, the extremity of the cable, within the socket, being untwistedto separate its strands, and a molten metal being poured in toembed thestrands so that, when hardened, the solder will measurably secure thewire structure in the shell. As a type of fastening, thissocket-arrangement has advantages in mat ter of relatively small size,economy of cable requirements, and the like; but the usual socketfastening-means and method hasno place in the securing of cables of hightensile strength for various reasons. Primarily, such socket fastenings,as heretofore employed, have been incapable of developing a vsuflicientpercentage of the tensile strength of a hard-steel cable to makepracticable their use insuch connection. If the retain-' ing body ofmetal, poured in molten condition into the socket, is of relatively lowmelting point, (as a usual lead-tin alloy) the individual wires of thecable pull out of it, under strain, as if the soft metal were merely aheavy solid lubricant, such separation being possible long before thebreaking point of the cable is reached. And conversely when a hardermetal of high melting point (as zinc) is sought to be employed theincreased degree of heatof the molten mass tends to draw the temper ofthe steel wires, thus greatly reducing their initial strength at or nearthe entrance to the socket, and

instances because of the extension of the inflexible connectorinterfering with functions of the cable, and because the increased sizeand necessary increased weight of-an elongated connection are highlyobjectionable.

My present invention produces, as a result of the method and meansemployed, a

socket fastening which, though as light and small as. the usual socketfastenings for lowtension cables of the same diameter, is capable ofdeveloping a higher percentage of the tensile strength of a temperedsteel cablethan any fastener of the socket type heretofore produced, andas high as or higher than an expertly made looped-eye fastening.

In the drawings wherein I have illustrated an embodiment of my inventionFigure 1 is a vertical cross section of a complete joint; Fig. 2 is aperspective view of a socket shell; Fig. 3 is a' section on line 33 ofFig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section on line 14 of 1. Fig. 5 is a section on line55 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on l ne 6-6 of Fig. 1; andFig. 7 is a view showing the mechanical parts in condition forassemblage.

In my 'improved' structure I employ a. steel socket member 10 in theform of a hollow truncated cone, the walls thereof tapering in thicknessfrom base 11 to tifp 12, and the interior surface tapering uni ormly tothe tip. The base portion is provided with suitable anchorage means,herein illustrated asthe perforated ears 13, by which the structure maybe bolted at 14 to any suitable support 15. Other mountings obviouslymay ,be employed, in lieu of such ears 13.

rality of spirally wound courses of wire,

' slip pered interior of the shell, so'that the clutch act1on as betweenwedge and shell is distrib- 'uted uniformly over a material length(preferably about'half) of each peripheral wire herein indicated as theouter strands a intermediate strands a and core Wire (1 The I cut end ofthe cableis passed through the shell as shown in Fig. 7, and then theterminal portion of the cable is separated into its component strands,the wires all .being spread apart to lie side by side except that thecorewire a (where-a core wire, single or stranded, is employed) ispreferably left in its initial axial position.

In securing the spread wires in thesocket I employ, preferablycombinatively,'a novel arrangement of embedding the wires in a retainingmetal, and a novel pre-formed clutch-wedge element. Thus, in thespecific construction shown, (wherein there are combined-severalfeatures of my invention that may, however, be separately used for theirown advantages) I employ, in conjunction with the tapered shell and thespread cable strands, a preformed wedge 16, (preferably) a complementalring 17, and soldering bodies 18 and 19 of metal emplaced while fluid.The wedge element 16 I insert Within the spread Wire strands wa',preferably threading the core wirea through a somewhat oversized bore20, that is made axially through the wedge and that opens, at the largerend of the Wedge,-into a space 21, constituting a recess to receive thewire ends as hereafter described. Over the wedgebase 1 apply the ring 17and the extremities of the wire I inbend, as shown in Fig. 1, uniformlyto lap across the ring and extend into the recess 21, accuracy inthisoperation being facilitated by the positioning of the wedge on the axialcore portion of the cable.

After so bending the cable strands to approximately their intendedultimate position, I draw the cable body-A taut with respect to theshell, so that the'hooked wire Externally the body portion of the wedgeis similar in contour to" the uniformly tawithin the socket, but toavoid imposing any cutting or. crushing strains on the'wires near theentrance to the socket, and in order to give adequate clearance for theseparation of allof' the wire strands so that they may be laid 1nappropriate non-crossing, spread relation, the tip or smaller end 16 ofthe wedge is tapered much more abruptlythan its body portion, so as tolead the inner layer of Wires a out to the radius of the shell-contourwithout interference with the spread outer-layer strands a. Tofacilitate the accurate direction of the inner layer wires, grooves 23may, if desired, be-formed in'the tip-portion 16 of the wedge. The

ring-17,-supplementing the wedge 16 in its action, is-not indispensable,for the wire ends maybe hooked over the edge of the wedge 16 but. thering is an advantageous refinement that facilitates assemblage and that,by its movability with respect to the body of the wedge, gives to theportion of the structure receiving the hook bends of the wires acapability to come and go that is valuable in insuring the uniformdistribution of strain to the wire strands.

When the pre formed parts above referred to have been thus positioned,strain on the cable of course tends to enhance the clutch actionbetweenthe wedge and the shell,

thereby to retain the wires, and this'mechanical coordination alone willdevelop a goodly percentage of the strength of the cable, making such 'astructure, without solder filling, available for many cable fasteningpurposes, although not for attainment of the maximum benefits that Iseek.

In the preferred practice of my invention I utilize molten metal tosolder the spread wires together and to the contiguous preformedmetallic parts, preferably employing a relatively soft metal of lowermelting point to embed the lower portion of the wire strands, and aharder metal,of higher melt ing point," to embed the extremities of thestrands. In the specific construction shown the body 18 of metal,filling-all of the spaces between the wire strands and the contigu-' ouspre-formed metallic parts, from the tip 12 of the socket toapproximately the base of the wedge 16, is a body of relatively softmetal or alloy, such as lead-tin alloys, such metal being pouredin whilemolten to fill the spaces between the wires and throughthe centerhole 20of the wedge; the desideratum being that the solder thus employed to beof such low melting point that, in the quantity used in so partiallyfilling the socket, not enough heat will be transmitted to theseparatedcable strands to affect their temper. The body 19 of metal isthen applied while fluid to invest the hook ends of the 'cable wirescompletely to seal them. This metal, preferably, is harder than the body18 having a higher melting point, such for instance as zinc, and it ismy preference to employ a metal or alloy having sufficiently highmelting point that, in the quantity employed, it acts substantially todraw the tem- "per of the hooked wire ends. At this point in theconstruction, the annealing effect of the abrupt bends in the wire; andfurthermore it willbe apparent that the relatively hard metal body 19acts mechanically as a resistant to straightening of the wire hooks soefficaciously that they are substantially anchored in their bentcondition as by a rigid plug intervening between the inturned ends.

As a further refinement of my invention,

I prefer that the socket shell 11 and wedge member l6 shall be of moreductile quality at the tip than toward the enlarged base, for while thelarger portion of the shell or wedge may, without detriment, be as hardas the cable wire, it is very desirable that their tips shall be softerthan the cable wire. This graduation in hardness may readily be effectedin various ways, as by first tempering the metal of the part and thendrawing the temper of the tip thereof by heating the part with a quick,high heat sufficient substantially to draw the temper of the thin tip,but insuflicient, within the time of heating, so to anneal the thickerbase portion of the part. And as a further desirable refinement ofmethod, this soldering may be done while the cable is maintained undermaterial strain, so insuring that the spread wires are initiallypositioned in the investing solder in exactly the positions assumedunder strain and with each strand bearing its proportion of the load.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the investing ofdifferent portions of the separated wires, progressively remote from thetip of the shell, in solders of increaslng hardness is advantageous perse, and also in conjunction with the employment of a shell of varyinghardness increasmg from the tip portion to the base portion, and it hasparticular advantage in a construction wherein the wires are hook-formedat their terminal ends with the hooks em bedded in the harder solderbody. Also it will be apparent thatfurther advantage is gained byhooking the ends of the wires over a pre-formed part, .whether ring orwedge-base, that will under strain press the spread wires against theshell. In practice all of the featureshereinbefore described combine inthe production of a very eflicacious fastening in which not .only isthewedge member (or its complemental ring) in cooperative relation with thehooked ends of the wires, but a hard solder body acts as:

one available means within the area' of the hooks maintaining the hooksagainst straightening, while a softer solder body, incapable of reducingthe temper and tensile strength of the individual wires, invests theexposed portions of the spread wires between the wedge and shell, andbelow the wedge, to position them against displacement, and to take aportion of the compressing or clutching force of the wedge member,

as wellas to add the strengthening qualities due to the soldering gripbetween the various parts.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that while I haveherein described in some detail a particular embodiment of my inventionfor purposes of full disclosure thereof I do not intend to limit myselfin the broader aspects of my invention to full association of all of thefeatures described, or the details of embodiment thereof, as manychanges in form and structure may be made without departure from myinvention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, What I claim is 1. In a device of thecharacter described the combination of the spread strands of a hightension, hard tempered cable and an encompassing shell, of a body ofrelatively soft metal of relatively low melting point,

soldering the strands together and to the shell adjacent to the tip ofthe shell, and a body of harder metal of higher melting point solderingthe strands within the larger portion of the shell.

2. In a structure of the character described the combination of a cablehaving portions of its strand wires separated and inbent at theirextremities, a tapering shell encompassing the separated portions of thewires, a body of relatively soft metal having a relatively low meltingpoint, soldering the portions of the strands adjacent to the shell tipto each other and to the contiguous pre-formed structure, and a body ofharder metal having a higher melting point similarly soldering theinbent portions of the strands.

3. The method of anchoring the cable ends in a conical socket whichconsists in passing the cable through the small end of the socket,spreading its wires, hookbending the ends thereof, engaging said hookedends with a member that will pass into the socket, applying tension tothe cable to position its wires in the socket under strain, andsolder-filling the open areas of the socket.

4. The method of anchoring the cable ends in-a conical socket whichconsists in passing the cable through the small end of the socket,spreading its wires, hookbending the ends thereof, engaging said hookedends with a member that will pass into the socket applying tension tothe cable to position its wires in the socket under strain, and fillingthe socket below the hook bends with a molten solder of relatively lowmelting point as described, and filling the area containing the wirehooks with a solder of higher melting point as described.

' their ends and a conical shell receiving gaged by. the hooked ends ofthe wires, and

a relatively soft solder body filling the portions of the shell adjacentthe" tip thereof and a harder solder body investing thehookedends of theWires.

7 In a fastening of the character described the combination of aconoidal shell,

a. cable end having itsspiral strands sepa.-' rated within the shell anda core portion in substantially axial position, a wedge member having alongitudinal passage engaging the core portion and havingits peri herysimilar to the tapered interior 0 the shell, clutching the spread cablewires to the shell and a solder body filling the "paces within the shellfrom below to above the wedge member. Y

8. In a device of the character described the combination of a conicalshell, a cable endhaving its strands separated within the shell, a Wedgemember clutch engaging the i the combination of a tapered shell havingarelatively soft tip and relatively hard base,

' melting point partlally drawing the temper separated strands totheshell wall, a ring resting on the wedge base, the extremities of theseparated wires bein injbent over the ring, and a metal body" within theshell between the stated parts.

' 9. In a device of thef character described a cable'end having wiresspread within the f shell, and a solder body filling the spaces withinthe shell between the pre-formed arts, said solder body being relativelysoft within the tip and relatively hard within the base.

1Q. In a device of the character described the combination of a taperedsocket shell, a cable end having wires spread within said of apre-formed member en- I ing a taper less lling the spaces adjacent-thetip of narrates shell, and a metallic Wedge within said spread wires,said wedge being relatively soft at its tip and harder at its base.

11. In a device of the character described the combination of a socketshell having a uniformly tapered interior, a cable end having strandsspread within the opening, a wedge within the spread wire ends, saidwedge being of conoidal form, its upper portion having a tapersubstantially the same as the interior of the socket to clutch thewiresto the shell and its lower portion having a taper less than that of thesocket, and a solder body filling the shell adjacent the lower endportion of the wedge.

12. In a device of the character described thecombination of a socketshell having a uniformly tapered interior, a cable end having its spiralstrands separated wlthin the shell and a core portion in substantiallyaxial position, a wedge within the spread wire ends 'and having an axialpassage receiving the core portion and havlng a greater cross sectionalarea than the core, said wedge being of conoidal form, its upper havinga taper substantially-the same as the intrior of the socket to clutchthe WIIeS to the shell wall and its lower portion havthan that of thesocket, and a solder body filling the axial passage in the wedge and theshell adjacent the lower portion of the wedge. I

13. The method ofv securing the spread end of a hightension,-hard-temperedcahle in a socket shell whichconsists in filling mthe lower portidn of the shell with molten metaLof relatively lowmelting -pomt, m quantity and heat insufficient tosubstantially'aflect-the temper of the cable strands the socket, and thereaftersimilarly filling in an upper portion of the socket with molten metalofhigher of the engaged portion of the cable strands. In testimonywhereof I hereunto set my handin the presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

r 'I 2 I ORR. In the presence of I MARY F. ALLEN, Sranmr W.'Coox.

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